hey there mr blue
by Serendipital
Summary: Hitoshi would give ANYTHING to be a hero, but his classmate Midoriya just might have him beat.
1. terrible, horrible, no good day

He should be thankful.

Hitoshi's parents sit across from him, Dad raising his fork with measured bites, and Mom shoveling the food away. The lights are bright and stale, and Hitoshi pokes at his food, mostly tasting his own stomach acid. He takes another bite, fingers clenched around the letter in his hand.

Mom's plate will probably be clean soon; she wants to leave, and Hitoshi really can't blame her, but. Too quickly, he slaps the letter on the table, fingers stilted in their reluctance to let go. There's a moment of awkward silence-like this whole dinner wasn't awkward silence-before Dad picks it up. Mom makes no move towards it, but her fork bends slightly between her fingers.

Dad slides the letter out of its envelope, glances at it. "Congratulations," he says, the sound booming for all that he's speaking quietly. Tonelessly.

It doesn't feel like much of a congratulations. But Hitoshi should be grateful, so he just nods, takes one last bite, and stands to put the dishes away-and snatches the letter back to cram in his pocket.

Why did he do that? What did he expect?

"-And let's congratulate Shinsou for his acceptance at U.A.," the teacher drones. Hitoshi hunches his shoulders, but it doesn't make him any less noticeable. His classmates all crowd him like vultures, circling around his desk.

"Wow, U-A, huh-"

"They'd let you in with such a creepy quirk-"

"Scoping out the competition, aren't you-"

"C'mon, no way he made hero course. They'd never let someone like him in."

He rubs the back of his neck, laughing a little. It strains his throat coming out. "I mean, I'm just in Gen Ed. No big deal." His classmates stop circling at that, their curiosity sated as soon as he fits back into the box they've made him. No big deal-it feels like a big deal. But he should be thankful to get into U.A. at all. They could have rejected him as soon as they saw his Quirk registration.

* * *

The school's. Big. Really big.

He straightens up forcefully, despite how much he wants to hide. He can't let these hero kids walk all over him-he needs to walk on them. Ugh.

...His tie's kind of stifling. Adjusting it doesn't so much good though—only makes him more likely to bump into someone while he's walking the hallways. They're absolutely flooded with people, since class is starting in just a few minutes. Now if he could just find—

"Ow", he says, a little pointlessly. There's a blond kid standing over him, smiling oddly.

"Excusez-moi! Sorry, sorry!" He holds out a hand with a sparkle (sparkle?). Apparently Hitoshi's on the ground now. Did he bump into the guy or did the guy bump into him? He's so tired.

It's only as the guy's slowly retracting his hand that Hitoshi realizes he's been staring at him in silence for the past twenty seconds. "Uh." And he's gone, awkwardly inching along towards a door with a sign overhead saying '1-A'. A hero kid, then. Huh.

He stays down there for another couple of seconds before leveraging himself to his feet. '1-C' should be somewhere down this hall, right…?

It is, and he's even a couple minutes early. He walks towards the windows, aiming for a seat halfway down the row. He doesn't bother looking around at his classmates—if all goes well, he won't be here for long anyway. So he takes his seat, unpacks his bag, and settles his head in his arms. If he's lucky he can catch a minute of sleep…

"Um, h-hi! Can I sit here?"

Hitoshi raises his head and side-eyes the boy next to him. So much for that plan. Sighing, he nods his head, and the boy scrambles into the seat like Hitoshi will pull it out from under him if he's a second too slow. Looking around, this was one of like...two available seats. Pretty much everyone is in the room already, other than their mysterious teacher. He doesn't know why the boy bothered asking.

Oh, wait he's talking again.

"—who do you think our homeroom teacher will be? Everyone's a hero so for all I know, Best Jeanist will walk right through that door." He snaps his head towards the door like that will summon the number four hero, before resuming his chatter. With how little input Hitoshi has given (none), it's probably mostly for the other boy's benefit. He descends into muttering, and Hitoshi can't for the life of him make out what topic he's on now. School uniforms? Denim?

Whatever it is, it comes to a halt once the classroom door is kicked open by a leather boot. "Hell**oooooo Little Listeners**!" the man yells. It's the proctor from the exam (Hitoshi winces a little, unhappy with the reminder), and he's just as loud now as he was then.

"I'm Present Mic," he leans forward conspiratorially, not lowering his volume a bit, "or Mr. Yamada, and I'll be your homeroom teacher for your time here at U.A! Now **put your hands up** when I call your name! Ai Takeshi!"

Some of the kids get really into it—Present Mic's enthusiasm is contagious, and even Hitoshi with his four hours' sleep is feeling wide-awake. With every name called, Present Mic pinwheels his arms wildly until he can finger gun at the kid who responds. It's funny, but he also kind of hopes this is a first-day thing and not really indicative of the rest of the year.

"Here!" Hitoshi startles a little at his neighbor's voice, belatedly remembering what name had just been called. 'Midoriya Izuku.' Well, it's certainly fitting, with the green hair. But overall, he's a plain-looking guy. Kind of what you'd think a general education student would look like.

Hitoshi raises his hand when called, and listens distractedly as Present Mic outlines the day's events (a welcome assembly, a short tour of the facilities, and then back in homeroom for some ice breakers, fun). He won't be here for long. He _can't_ be, or. He's not sure. But he can't.


	2. kinda good, maybe not so bad day

The assembly is...an assembly. Hero school is still a school after all. Not that it's just a hero school; his placement is proof of that, but, well. Who actually goes straight for gen ed? Even the support and management courses are still hero-based. The only real standout was the speech from the top examinee of the support course. The pink haired girl turned it into more of a marketing pitch, showcasing invention after invention with a few throw-away lines about starting the year strongly. Her parting words were to the hero class, to stop by her class if they ever wanted any upgrades. Well, the one class that actually attended the ceremony.

What's with the 1-A course, anyway? Are they too good for welcome assemblies?

Hitoshi grumbles a bit internally, annoyed at both the situation and his own disgruntlement over it. At least the 1-B kids were there.

As it is, they've just wrapped up the tour of the facilities (basically: here's the gym. Here's the cafeteria. Here's your key card) and now it's time for icebreakers. What are the odds it won't involve quirks?

"Alright, listeners! Lets go around the circle! Names, quirks, and a fun fact. I'll start~"

Zero, apparently. Hitoshi drags a hand down his face. They rearranged the desks for this exercise, but still Hitoshi is seated next to Midoriya. Somehow. The guy will probably stop trying to talk to him after this, at least. Small mercies.

Apparently, Present Mic's favorite breed of cat is the Siamese. It fit; they were both pretty talkative, though Hitoshi would have pegged him as more of a dog person. The girl next to him—who has no arms, just floating hands; freaky—likes building model kits. And so on.

Despite himself, Hitoshi listens closely. What kind of quirks did the other rejects have?

As it turns out, they run the gamut from useless (changing hair color) to situational (sticking things together). None are flashy. Figures.

And then it's Midoriya Izuku's turn. It's in the sudden absence of the scratching noise that Hitoshi realizes he'd been scribbling down notes this whole time. On his classmates? A to-do list? What for?

"I'm Midoriya Izuku, I like...analyzing hero fights. And I'm-I'm quirkless." He looks nervous and a little flushed, and falls back into his seat as soon as he gets out the last word.

There's no big gasp at his proclamation, but there's a sense of surprise all the same. Sure, 20% of the population may be quirkless, but for their age? It's probably closer to 1%. Maybe even less. And as far as U.A. goes...he's probably the only one around. Has there ever been a quirkless student here before?

Hitoshi doesn't have much time to think on this weird feeling of kinship? he feels in his guts because now it's his turn. He goes for a neutral expression-he's been told his smiles are unnerving, and they only really add fuel to the fire. "Shinsou Hitoshi. I like cats. My quirk is brainwashing."

The scratching noise starts again in earnest, and this time Midoriya's mumbling like crazy, stealing glances at him. It's so out of left field that he doesn't catch his other classmates' reactions. Soon enough the next student is going, and Hitoshi is left to stare at the side of Midoriya's head.

What kind of reaction was that…?

* * *

After class, they're told to head to the cafeteria for lunch before leaving for the day. It's probably meant to allow the students to introduce themselves on their own terms, but Hitoshi fully intends to hightail it to a secluded spot outside. He makes it maybe two steps out the door of the classroom before Midoriya comes up behind him.

"Um, Shinsou!" He stops in front of him, blocking off any means of escape. Hitoshi made the mistake of being the last to leave the classroom, so he can't even complain about blocking the door.

He feels oddly intimidated, even though Midoriya's a good few inches shorter than him. Maybe it's that manic look in his eye.

"I was wondering if you could tell me more about your quirk? I just have so many questions! How is it activated? Does it have a time limit? What kind of tasks can you make people do couldyoumakemedoacartwheeleventhoughIdon'tknowhow—"

Hitoshi cuts him off. "No."

"No...you couldn't make me do a cartwheel? Or—"

"I'm not going to tell you anything about my quirk." Hitoshi would just be handing him the tools to beat him, in the future. Midoriya couldn't be trying for the hero course, but he could easily turn around and give that information to someone else. No.

Midoriya visibly deflates, fidgeting in place. He fingers the edges of his notebook, biting down on his lip. "Well—it just seems like a really useful quirk! But, uh," he gets caught on his words for a second, before finally managing to spit out, "we could talk about it another time? And we could talk about something else, um, who's your favorite hero? Mine's uh, Rag—"

"I need to go eat," Hitoshi cuts him off again. It feels a little like ants are crawling under his skin, and he pushes past Midoriya without waiting for a reply.

The other boy says something, but Hitoshi doesn't register it, already walking away.

* * *

God, the food is to die for. Hitoshi shovels forkfuls of coconut curry into his mouth, and suddenly this is the best first day ever. Is Lunch Rush an actual hero, or is he just a chef? He's Hitoshi's hero right now, regardless.

He's sitting under a big leafy tree, alone with the sun gently warming his skin, and with each bite, the butterflies in his stomach ease a little bit more. Maybe some of it was just nausea—he didn't eat anything this morning, so caught up in what-ifs that it was difficult to put his shoes on the right feet, much less make a balanced breakfast.

The thought dulls the taste in his mouth a little. One of those what-ifs involved his class shunning him, once again, for something he has no control over. He didn't stay around long enough to really see where everyone stands, but he has no doubt the what-if is more of an eventuality.

But then there's Midoriya.

Curiosity about his quirk isn't all that common, beyond the dark, self-serving 'what can you do for me?'. Sure, someone will ask about brainwashing to get them cigarettes, or alcohol, or making a girl like them. But Midoriya was firing off questions, less 'what can you do for me' and more 'what can you do', seeming genuinely excited and so earnest, and Hitoshi feels a little guilty for shutting him down so quickly.

But what are the chances Midoriya actually wants to befriend him, after ten years of no one doing the same?

Ugh. Stop thinking about it.


	3. Hitoshi's emotional state is a pendulum

Midoriya doesn't leave him alone.

Their seats are assigned by where they sat their first day instead of by last name, _which would actually make sense, _so he's stuck next to Midoriya in every single class. The mumbling isn't even a problem; the constant attempts at conversation are. He never brings up Hitoshi's quirk again, but after English with Mr. Yamada, it's-

"Did you see the Mount Lady debut? I think she'll be great once she gets some more experience…"

-and then after Math with Ectoplasm-

"There's some great exclusives after the HeroCon announcement, I've been needing to pick up some posters for my room. Have you been to HeroCon? I go every year…"

-and now, as Hitoshi's packing up his bag for lunch-

"I heard 1-A's teacher is Eraserhead? Well, Mr. Aizawa, but I'm pretty sure he's EraserheadsincehecarriesaroundacapturescarfandI'mprettysurehecanceledsomeone'squirk-"

"Wait, what?" Oh shit. Did he say that out loud? If he actually engages, Midoriya's _never_ going to give up.

His face lights up, immediately stopping his tangent. Damn it. "Oh! Do you know him? That's pretty surprising; since he's an underground hero, not many people do." He smiles innocently, but there's a look in his eye that says he's not very surprised at all.

Hitoshi considers just leaving for a moment. "Yeah. I've been following him for a while," he says, against his will. It's like Midoriya has the brainwashing quirk.

He actually is hungry, though, and would like to eat lunch. But Midoriya looks so hopeful, even if there's a bit of smug satisfaction in his eyes, and Hitoshi _really does_ like Eraserhead.

He zips his bag and stands up, but doesn't beeline for the door. "You're sure he teaches 1-A?"

Midoriya smiles even brighter-if that's possible-and packs up his own bag, walking beside Hitoshi as they make their way to the cafeteria. "Well, I can't be 100% sure, I mean, he wouldn't advertise his identity like that, but I've done a lot of research on him and Ilookedthroughmynotesandhisbuildandhair-"

"Slow down." Hitoshi takes his place in the lunch line, Midoriya behind him.

"S-sorry!" Midoriya looks a little more panicked than he probably should at the correction. "Anyway, he looks a lot like some security cam stills I saw on the hero forums a while back, and with what Uraraka said, I really do think it's him."

"Uraraka?" If Midoriya already has friends, why is he so desperate to be around Hitoshi? Does he just want something from him after all?

Midoriya deflects, blushing a bit and looking away. Lunch Rush places some mackerel on his tray. "She's in 1-A, so he's her homeroom teacher, um-we met at the entrance exam." Wait.

"The...hero course entrance exam." Hitoshi pauses in the middle of a row of lunch tables, staring at Midoriya. Each department was tested separately-he didn't have to take the Gen Ed-specific exam because he essentially flunked into it, but if Midoriya met a hero course student at the exam...was this tiny Quirkless kid running around, trying to take down giant robots? What the hell was he thinking?

Midoriya gives a nervous laugh, eyes darting left and right, but then-

"Deku!" a bubbly voice chimes out, and in the time it takes Hitoshi to turn his head and see the brown-haired girl, Midoriya has already fled to her side. He's immediately surrounded by a couple of other hero course students, and there's no way Hitoshi's going to worm his way in there, physically or emotionally.

Well, they did sit together in all of their classes. He could grill him on it later.

* * *

He could not grill him on it later. In a frustrating role reversal, Midoriya remains tight-lipped for the rest of the day, refusing to respond to any of Hitoshi's prompting. For a moment, he considers Brainwashing it out of him, but 1) he'd just be giving away all his cards, and 2) he may be acting a little nosy, but he wasn't going to _force_ the answer out of the other kid. Well, not through quirked methods, anyway.

As it is, Hitoshi still hasn't gotten any details by the next morning. He's biking to U.A, and he's been thinking about this Quirkless kid taking the hero entrance exam for half a day now, and he can't tell why he's obsessing so much over it. It bothers him. Because Midoriya's Quirkless? Because Hitoshi failed too? How many points did he get? Did he get any at all?

Because Hitoshi didn't. Did Midoriya?

He's still thinking about it when he locks his bike up, and when he sits down in his seat for homeroom. And when Midoriya sits down in his seat for homeroom. He thinks about it right up until Mr. Yamada kicks open the door, the same as the last three days. It looks like that's just his way. Maybe the enthusiasm will putter out in the coming weeks.

"Hell**oooooo** my exclusive listeners! I have some very exciting news for you today! Any guesses?" He also really likes audience participation, as ineffective as it is. Just like the last two days, no one answers him, but he moves on without missing a beat. "It's **Student Council Elections! Yeah!**" Mr. Yamada does a very abstract air guitar, struggling around the thermos and manilla folder in his hands. He sets them down before pulling a hat full of slips of paper from his desk. Where he got the hat, Hitoshi isn't sure. It wouldn't exactly fit on his hair, though it can't be styled like that all the time. Probably.

"None of you are exactly fit for the House of Lords, but you might be fit for the Japanese Diet-and you'll be learning more about that today with Ms. Kayama, so look forward to it!" He calms down a bit, going from a solid 10 to maybe an 8. Mentioning actual coursework has brought him into Teacher Mode, where he's just as enthusiastic but more to-the-point. "Anyway, you'll be holding a vote. Feel free to give a little speech if you're interested-you can stand up here next to me-and then I'll pass out these paper slips for you to write your candidate on!" He sits down in his seat, sipping at his thermos. "Go ahead! You have until the end of the period." With that, Mr. Yamada leans back to look over the papers in his hand, tapping his foot to an unknown tune. Hopefully that means their initial English assessments aren't too bad.

A girl goes up-Handa Machiko, the one with no visible arms or legs-and gives a short speech, citing her involvement in her middle school student council, and Hitoshi is left staring blankly at the empty space she leaves. Does he go up? He should be focusing on proving himself as a hero, not as a student council member, but maybe that would factor in for a transfer? Does U.A. want a more well-rounded candidate, or someone dedicated to punching as many robots as possible? He kind of feels like it's the latter, but maybe-

The next candidate kind of surprises him, and Hitoshi realizes as he looks around at everyone else's nonplussed faces that he'd completely missed that one of his classmates is just a whole-ass cat. A white fluffy one, with some gray patches on his hips and a little uniform jacket. Is he a Quirked animal, or just a person with a weird mutation? He must've introduced himself after Midoriya. Hitoshi had completely checked out after that.

Despite being a cat, he gives a pretty nice speech. Apparently he wasn't on Student Council in middle school because he couldn't reliably speak Japanese, but with the Support Class's help and Principal Nezu's own interference, he's been kitted out (heh) with a tie that somehow speaks out his words in a robotic voice. They're pretty convincing words, though, and he even demonstrates his abilities as a possible secretary by writing his name-Suzuki Shiro-quickly and elegantly on the board. Hitoshi isn't quite sure how he does it, but he undeniably does, and the unsure murmurs around him die down after that.

He frets to himself as the next candidates come up for their speeches, and in the end Mr. Yamada starts passing out the paper slips before Hitoshi can convince himself to deliver a speech. He's frustrated with himself, and almost writes down his name anyway, but it's not like anyone would vote for him. He didn't express any interest at all. It's all on him, as usual.

He writes down Suzuki's name. It's kind of funny, if nothing else.

Surprisingly but also unsurprisingly, Suzuki wins by a landslide. Handa is slotted in as his VP, but she looks just as amused as everyone else, simply promising to do her best. Hitoshi figures she'll balance out Suzuki's lack of experience and it'll be fine. Student Council isn't all that important, anyway.

He didn't get any votes, as expected. Neither did Midoriya. Hitoshi sneaks a glance at him, curious, but Midoriya catches his eye, smiling a bit. It looks more genuine than it did after lunch yesterday, if still a little wan.

"I'm glad Suzuki won. I think he-I mean, he may not have as much experience, but he never...he deserves a chance to prove himself, you know?" Midoriya looks down at that, smile faltering, and he shrugs, playing it off. Hitoshi lets him.


End file.
